


Malfunctions

by Casual_Scribbles



Series: Adventures in Deviation [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, First Crush, Fluff, I got pulled into the Chloe x Connor ship, No beta oops, Reed900 if you squint, Sorry they're just really cute, connor can't flirt, learning how emotions work, someone help this poor boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-11-07 00:05:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17949767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Casual_Scribbles/pseuds/Casual_Scribbles
Summary: He couldn’t take his eyes off of Chloe. She was rising from the chair she was sitting in, thanking the officer, leaving the precinct.Connor yelped and darted behind Hank, clutching Hank’s arm and peeking out to watch Chloe pass. His Thirium pump was racing and the excessive Thirium was rising to his face, which felt too hot. Was his Thirium pump regulator broken? His thermal regulator didn’t seem to be working either. He was half tempted to check his biocomponents, but he couldn’t move.Connor learns what a crush feels like and struggles to function.





	Malfunctions

Connor kept pace at Hank’s side as they entered the bullpen. He stood tall with his back straight, proud to be a full member of the DPD.

“I hope today’s a quiet day,” Hank said, stopping only to leave his coat – carefully mended by Connor after having recovered from his gunshot wound – at his desk before darting into the breakroom to pour himself a cup of coffee.

Connor followed with a smile. “Hopefully not too quiet. That would be boring.”

“Hmph, so you get bored now, do you?” Hank glanced over at Connor. His eyes were glittering.

“I find it difficult to concentrate if the task is too monotonous, Hank. I believe that is part of being bored, is it not?”

“I guess it is.”

At that moment, Gavin Reed slunk into the breakroom, Nines following coldly behind him. Connor sighed and braced himself for Gavin’s sour attitude. “Move, tin can. I need caffeine.”

Nine’s smacked the back of Gavin’s head. “Last warning, Gavin.”

“You said that last time,” Gavin muttered, rubbing his head and stepping around Connor to reach the coffee pot.

Connor stepped back to stand at his brother’s side. “He’s not too much trouble is he?”

“Nothing I can’t handle,” Nines smirked. Connor laughed a little, raising an eyebrow at Nines. “Really, Connor? Find yourself a partner if you’re so determined to scrutinize me.”

“So you admit that you and Gavin are _partners_?” He allowed the word to roll off his tongue slowly, doing his best to annoy his brother. According to human culture, it was a common occurrence for older siblings to annoy their younger siblings. Now that he was doing it himself, he could see why. It was fun to watch Nines bristle and turn an angry face to Connor, knowing that he couldn’t do anything in return without getting in trouble.

“I’m not talking to you,” Nines hissed and stalked out of the breakroom to slump down at the desk he shared with Gavin.

Connor watched him go, laughing. “I’ll take that as a yes!” He shouted to his brother. Nines huffed and spun his chair to face away from the break room.

“Stop tormenting Nines, Connor.” Hank rejoined Connor and they left the breakroom.

“I apologize, Hank, but I don’t believe I can do that.”

“And why not?”

“It is far too entertaining to watch-” Connor halted his steps and found his words cut off as he caught sight of an RT600 on the other side of the bullpen. He’d seen her before when he and Hank were investigating deviancy. Maybe not _this_ her, but he’d seen Chloe’s model before. Yet this time was different.

**> [^52% stress level]**

“Connor?” Hank had stopped and was looking back at him, but Connor only saw him in his periphery. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Chloe. She was rising from the chair she was sitting in, thanking the officer, leaving the precinct.

Connor yelped and darted behind Hank, clutching Hank’s arm and peeking out to watch Chloe pass. His Thirium pump was racing and the excessive Thirium was rising to his face, which felt too hot. Was his Thirium pump regulator broken? His thermal regulator didn’t seem to be working either. He was half tempted to check his biocomponents, but he couldn’t move.

“Connor, are you okay?”

Hank’s voice broke through the fog in Connor’s processors long enough for him to squeak a response. “Hank, I appear to be experiencing malfunctions.”

Hank raised an eyebrow. “What kind of malfunctions?”

“My Thirium pump is beating too fast and there is more Thirium in my face than there should be, which could mean an error in my regulator. I also seem to be overheating, which means my thermal regulator is not working. And my stress levels jumped for no reason.”

“Mhmm.” Hank hummed. “What are your stress levels?”

“Uh, 52%, going down.” Connor craned his neck to watch Chloe leave and finally, after she had left his sight, let go of Hank.

“Connor, I believe you have a crush.”

“I- what?” Connor blinked, finally able to turn his attention to Hank. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that you like Chloe.” Hank leaned closer, a smirk tugging at his lips. “You _like like_ her.”

Connor felt the Thirium rise to his face again, his processors whirring. “I don’t- I- I-” Connor put his face into his hands and felt the heat radiating from his cheeks.

He felt Hank’s hand on his shoulder. “When humans have a crush, our hearts usually beat faster, we blush – which makes our faces feel warm – and we can get very nervous around the person. It’s quite normal, Connor.”

Connor peeked up at Hank from between his fingers. Hank was smiling and his eyes glittered with amusement. Connor shook his head. How dare he find humor in Connor’s panic? “How do I fix it?”

“Fix it? Connor, this isn’t a malfunction that needs fixing. You just need to talk to her.”

“No!” Connor yelped, pulling his hands away from his face and throwing them between himself and Hank as if that could protect him from Hank’s idea. “No, no, no! What if I say something embarrassing? She’ll never talk to me again!”

“Talk to you again? She’ll never even _talk_ _to you_ if you don’t start a conversation!” Hank crossed his arms but relented. “Fine. She’s gone now anyway. Just get to work.”

Connor sighed, relief filling every biocomponent. He threw himself down in his chair and linked into his terminal. He glanced over at Nines, noticing the faint smile on his brother’s face. He frowned and buried himself in filing reports.

 

-

 

A few weeks later Connor was on patrol with Hank, Gavin, and Nines. For some reason, Gavin’s face was painted with a shit-eating grin, Hank had a smirk of his own, and Nines – well, Nines seemed just a bit _too_ cheery for Connor’s liking.

He walked through Greektown, arms folded behind his back, trying to ignore Nine’s elbowing Gavin and Gavin snipping back at him. However, as he neared Bellini Paints, he froze.

Chloe stood in front of the store, frowning at something in her hand, looking up at the store’s sign, then around at her surroundings.

> **[^52% stress levels]**

His Thirium pump was beating too fast again and his face felt warm. He turned around quickly. He had to get away.

He was stopped by Hank’s hand pressing against his chest, pushing him back. Hank shook his head ever so slightly.

Nines stepped forward and, taking his brother by the shoulders, spun Connor around and pushed him toward Chloe. Connor dug his heels in, panic tightening in his chest. “Stop resisting, Connor. You may be older, but I am more advanced.”

“Nines, how could you?”

“Easily and without regret. Go talk to her.” Nines answered. He stopped pushing Connor and pointed to Chloe instead.

Connor shot a betrayed look over his shoulder for Nines and Hank, then took a deep (albeit, unnecessary) breath and walked up to Chloe.

He did his best to ignore the screeching of warnings in his internal processors trying to tell him to run away. It was a very difficult task.

Chloe looked up to see Connor approaching. Her eyes widened.

“He-y Chloe,” Connor waved awkwardly and winced at the break in his voice. His face felt far too warm.

> **[^60% stress levels]**

“Hi… Connor, right?” Chloe said slowly. Connor couldn’t help but notice her weight shift backwards defensively.

He nodded, no longer trusting his vocal processors.

“How are you doing?” Cloe asked.

Fuck. He couldn’t just nod or shake his head. He had to talk.

“Uh… I’m- uh- I’m getting used to… um… emotions.” Fuck fuck fuck. Where the hell was his advanced social protocols? He was supposed to be _good_ at conversations, rA9 damn it.

“So you’re not a machine anymore?” She asked. Connor saw her weight shift a little closer forward. “You’re not gonna pull a gun on me again?”

Connor sucked in a breath, his eyes flying wide. “ _Oh_ ,” was all he could manage.

> **[^67% stress levels]**

Chloe shifted back again with a wince. “Sorry, that was rude, sorry, sorry.”

Connor threw his hand up and shook his head vigorously. “No, no, that’s- um- that’s totally fair. Completely fair. Not rude. I- um- no.” He stopped and let his arms drop and rubbed an elbow. “No- I… um.” He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out his coin. “Sorry… about all of that.”

“It’s… okay. You were a machine then, and you say you’re not, now, I guess. And you didn’t pull the trigger then, either, so… I guess it’s okay.”

> **[^65% stress levels]**

“So… uh- you, huh?”

“Yeah. Same one.”

“I- um. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, Connor, really.” Chloe looked up at him through her lashes and Connor’s Thirium pump went into overdrive. Her eyes were so _blue_ and she was so pretty. Her hair was pulled up into a bun and she was wearing a pretty, bare-shouldered dress.

No. No, no, no. _Snap out of it, Connor_. He just had to notice that. Not fair. Not fair at all.

“Okay. I- um. You looked- ah- a little lost before.” Connor flicked his coin over his fingers, trying to channel his nervous energy into the motion. “Can I- um- can I help you find something?”

“Hm, I don’t know. I was just told that I should be outside Bellini Paints around now. I think someone was supposed to meet me.” Chloe bit her lip.

A shock jolted through Connor’s system. He narrowed his eyes and shot a venomous look over his shoulder at his companions. Nines smiled, his chin held high. Hank gave him a thumbs up. Gavin was trying very hard not to roll over laughing.

“Yes… I believe that would be- well, ah- me. If my suspicions are correct, they—” he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder so Chloe knew who he was talking about—“orchestrated this meeting.”

Chloe peered at the three officers over Connor’s shoulder and chuckled. Connor’s Thirium pump beat faster. “Well then, I’m glad I came.”

 _What?!_ Connor’s processors screeched to a halt, stopping everything but shock and panic.

“I was lucky to find you this time, but I might need some help finding other places. Why don’t I give you my number so I can call for help?”

Connor stood gaping for a moment. Chloe stretched a hand out toward Connor, the skin melting away from her fingertips. Connor stared at her hand.

“Well?” She prompted, snapping him out of his daze.

“Neat!” He squeaked offering his hand. Chloe looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh at him, but they exchanged numbers without incident. Chloe waved goodbye with a promise to contact him and Connor waved back.

“Smooth, tin can. Very smooth.” Gavin taunted. Connor heard the other three officers approaching him from behind.

**> [^68% stress levels]**

He heard Nines scoff. “As if you were any better, Gavin.”

“Conan-”

“As I recall, you messed up five pick-up lines before I took pity on you and walked you through one.”

“Conan, stop!” Gavin squawked, struggling to slap a hand over Nines’ mouth. He was too short to reach effectively, but Nines stopped talking anyway. He was smiling, his eyes glittering. Connor was definitely _not jealous_ of Nines’ social ability.

Connor collapsed against Nines’ chest and he felt his brother’s arms wrap around him. “I want to deactivate.”

“No, you don’t,”

“Yes, I do.”

Hank was laughing now. “What happened to all of your advanced social protocols?”

Connor groaned in response. He didn’t want to re-live that interaction. “I hate all of you.”

“Mmm, no you don’t,” Nines hummed.

“Add vocal processors to the list of malfunctioning biocomponents.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because, son,” Hank cut in, “they’re not malfunctioning. You have a crush.”

“I want to turn it off,” Connor said turning his head to face Hank.

“You can’t. Just keep talking to Chloe.”

**> [^71% stress level]**

“No, absolutely not!” Connor jumped back and away. He shook his head vigorously. “No, no, no, I can’t do that!”

Hank stepped toward Connor, but Nines stuck his arm out and shook his head, stopping Hank. Connor saw a flashing glint of red in Nines’ eyes.

“Why not, Connor?” Nines voice was soft. He had his free hand held up where Connor could see it, as if calming a wild animal.

“The last time we were face to face I had a _gun_ pointed at her _head_!” Connor cried. “She might say that it’s okay, but it’s _not_!”

Hank sucked in a breath and Gavin stilled, seeming to forget that he hated Connor.

“ _That_ Chloe?” Hank said softly.

“ _Shit_ ,” Gavin whispered.

“Connor, did you shoot her?”

Connor shook his head. “No. N-no, I didn’t,”

> **[^68% stress level]**

Nines nodded encouragingly. “Were you a deviant when you did that?”

Connor shook his head again. “No.”

**> [^60% stress level]**

Nines took a step toward him, leaving Hank behind and holding both hands in front of himself now. “Would you point a gun at her now?”

Connor narrowed his eyes. “No.”

**> [^57% stress levels]**

Nines reached forward and took Connor’s hands in his own. “Would you shoot her now?” He whispered.

“No!” Connor gripped his brother’s hands. “No, I would never!” He could feel his Thirium pump slowing, regaining its usual pace. His breaths seemed less harsh.

“Then it’s _okay_ , Connor. You were a machine then, you didn’t make your own choices, but you’re not one now. You do what _you_ want to do, and that’s what matters.” Nines’ voice was gentle, soothing, and Connor thanked rA9 that Markus had found Nines before he was destroyed. He didn’t know what he would do without his brother.

“Okay,” Connor said. “Okay,”

Nines nodded at Hank and stepped back to allow Hank to embrace Connor. Connor tightened his arms around Hank.

“It’s okay, son.” He heard Hank say.

Connor nodded into Hank’s shoulder and sighed.

**> [^12% stress level]**

He pulled back and scowled at Nines, Hank, and Gavin. “I still hate you all. How could you?”

“All we did was ask the officer Chloe was talking to for her information.” Hank shrugged.

“I had to convince him we were just setting you up on a date before he would even give us her email. It was frustrating.” Gavin huffed.

“Yes, well, you’re not the most trustworthy officer in the precinct.” Nines smiled.

Gavin punched Nines’ arm. Nines laughed and swatted at his hand.

Connor groaned. “rA9, she gave me her number and all I said was ‘neat’,”

Gavin absolutely broke. He was laughing so hard that his face was turning red. Connor grit his teeth. This was _not funny_. He looked to Nines for help, but he looked as if he were trying very hard not to laugh as well.

Hank clapped a hand down on Connor’s shoulder. “Jesus Christ, son. You have _got_ to work on your conversation skills.”

Connor covered his face with his hands. He avoided eye contact with everyone for the rest of their patrol.

-

Later, Connor laid on the couch in Hank’s house scrolling through tip blogs and wiki-how articles. So many of them were titled, “how to flirt” or “how to talk to your crush,” but none of them were all that helpful in either category. Connor sighed and stared at the ceiling. He reached a hand down to pet Sumo. The dog’s soft fur slipped between his fingers, helping him focus. Chloe had given him her number. He’d given Chloe his own. Should he message her first? Or should he call? He closed his eyes. What if he was supposed to wait for her to do something?

> [Chloe 3: Hi Connor]

If Connor shrieked or fell off the couch, he swore no one would know. Sumo scrambled out of the way, but Connor was more focused on slowing his heart rate than he was on watching his dog. He clutched a pillow to his chest and took a deep breath. What should he say? None of those blogs were helpful. He still didn’t know how to hold a basic conversation with her.

“Hank!” He shouted. “I need help!”

He could already hear heavy thumping, then a door slammed open. “Connor! Where are you?” Hank’s voice sounded almost afraid.

“I’m here,” he said and craned his head back to see the upside-down image of Hank’s socked feet sliding to a stop on the hardwood floor. Connor hugged the pillow tighter and shifted to stare up at Hank, whose eyes were wide and flickering over Connor as if…

 _He’s seeing if I’m injured_. Connor realized how the situation seemed. Hank would only have heard a shriek, a crash, and him calling for help.

“I’m not injured, Hank,” he said, meeting Hank’s eye. Hank heaved a sigh of relief.

“Then what the hell was that about?” Hank asked gruffly, crossing his arms and shifting his weight to one side.

Connor felt heat rush to his face again. “She messaged me,” he whispered, afraid that if he said it too loud it would stop being real.

Hank’s face changed almost instantly. Connor was sure he had never seen his grin so full of mischief, or his eyes glittering in the way they were now. “You have no idea what to do, do you?”

Connor shrank into himself. “Not a clue,” he said quietly. Hank snickered.

“Alright, get up. Show me what she said,” Hank stepped over Connor and sat on the couch.

Connor rolled over and pushed himself up. He settled himself, cross-legged, next to Hank, still clutching the pillow. He held out his hand and projected the image for Hank to see, burying his face behind the pillow at the same time.

“That’s it?” Hank asked. Connor peeked one eye out to look at Hank.

He nodded.

“You have to invite conversation. Say hi back, use her name, but put an exclamation mark at the end so that she knows you’re excited to talk to her.” Hank furrowed his brow. “You are excited, right? That’s why you shrieked?”

Connor hesitated. Excited didn’t quite feel like it described the odd emotion in his chest. Nervous didn’t quite cover it either. Connor racked his processors for the right word and turned to the internet when he couldn’t find one in his dictionary.

“Nervouscited,” he tested slowly. It still didn’t quite fit, but it was closer than the other words he had attempted to use.

Hank nodded with a grunt. “I think I know what you mean.”

Connor chose not to reply and instead focused on crafting his message. He typed and retyped it several times before finally holding it up for Hank to approve.

[Connor: Hello, Chloe!]

Hank hummed and read it over. “Take out the comma and show me again.”

Connor nodded and refreshed the hologram above his palm.

[Connor: Hello Chloe!]

Hank seemed to consider the message for a moment. “Put the comma back in and send it to her.”

Sumo plodded back to the couch and put his chin in Hank’s lap. Connor watched Hank scratch Sumo’s ear for a moment. He turned off the hologram and reached over to pet Sumo.

[Chloe 3: How are you doing?]

Connor yelped and scrambled to show Hank the message again. Hank read what Chloe had sent. He started laughing. “You’re helpless, Connor,”

Connor buried his face behind the pillow again. “It’s not funny!” He whined.

“I beg to differ,” Hank said, but coached Connor through an entire conversation anyway.

Finally, Connor read over a message he’d silently hoped would be sent by either one of them (although he wasn’t sure he would have the guts – biocomponents? – to send it himself).

[Chloe 3: would you like to meet up tomorrow? hang out for a while?]

Connor could feel Hank grinning at him, probably because of the distressed whining wheeze he couldn’t seem to stop, but he couldn’t see him from behind the pillow.

“Well?”

“Well, what?” Connor dropped the pillow and pleaded with Hank using his biggest puppy eyes.

“Well, do you want to hang out with her tomorrow or not?” Hank chuckled.

“I-” Every processor in Connor’s body felt like it was vibrating at the speed of light. He hugged the pillow to his chest, using the pressure to ground himself. “Yes, I do,”

“So tell her you do and ask her if she has an idea of something she’d like to do,”

Connor typed out a message, then deleted it and typed a new one, then deleted it again. Why was this so difficult? He had the most advanced social programming of any android! He should be able to tell a girl that he wants to hang out with her!

He held his palm out for Hank to inspect the message.

[Connor: Absolutely! Do you have anything in mind for tomorrow?]

Hank nodded. “Send it to her,”

Connor pushed the message through the network even as every system in his body screamed at his to abort the mission.

Connor fidgeted anxiously while he waited for a reply. Did he take too long to respond? Did she change her mind? Did he write something wrong? Connor chanced a look up at Hank. He must’ve looked more pitiful than he felt because Hank wrapped an arm around his shoulders and squeezed.

“Give her a minute, son. I’m sure she’s scrambling to answer. She’s probably just as nervous as you.”

Chloe’s message finally popped up.

[Chloe 3: Yay! There’s an art museum that I’d like to check out, especially now that we can go without humans. Do you like that idea?]

Connor was quicker to reply this time, telling Chloe that he’d love to go and letting her know what time he got off his shift.

“We’re going to an art museum tomorrow after work,” he breathed wonderingly. He looked over at Hank, grinning. Hank himself was beaming at Connor, pride gleaming in his eyes. Connor decided he liked the way he felt when Hank was proud of him.

Hank pulled Connor in for a hug. Connor laughed, wrapping his arms around Hank in return. Every bit of tension seemed to be leaving his body at once, bubbling over his lips and making his eyes burn.

“Alright, son,” Hank said, clapping Connor on the back and pulling away, “Let’s go pick out an outfit for you,”


End file.
